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Colombian drug plane allegedly bound for US crashes in state jungle

San Pedro Peralta, Q.R. — A Colombian plane that crashed near Chetumal has been reported loaded with a ton of cocaine allegedly bound for the United States.

Residents of the small town in the south of the state say they heard a rumble from the sky which was the descent of the Cessna-type plane that crashed in the jungle approximately 12 kilometers from their town.

The plane crashed shortly before midnight on Sunday, apparently due to mechanical failure. The aircraft was being tracked by military authorities, and when it hit the ground, created an immediate deployment of soldiers.

According to la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional, the plane, which was discovered by a Mexican Air Force helicopter, was found on the ground in an inaccessible jungle area near the town of El Cedral.

Soldiers from the 34th Zona Militar were forced to cut a trail into the jungle to reach the plane. When they arrived, they found two men on board, one of which, the Colombian co-pilot, was deceased. The pilot, a man of Mexican decent, was taken to the General Hospital of Chetumal.

La Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional reports that on board the plane they found 48 large packages of drugs that each contained 25 one-kilo packages inside with a gross weight of 1.3 tons. They also seized the 1.3 million Colombian peso found inside the plane.

In October, two small aircraft believe used in Colombia drug runs were found burning along the state border with Belize.

In December, a US-registered plane loaded with a ton of cocaine landed at the Chetumal International Airport without permission when the plane changed course after the two men on board saw police on the Belize highway.